


nightmares

by TheEbonHawk



Category: Star Wars, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Torture, M/M, Multi, Nightmares, jedistormpilot, swpolyamoryweek
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-19
Updated: 2016-04-19
Packaged: 2018-06-03 03:35:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,973
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6594982
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheEbonHawk/pseuds/TheEbonHawk
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Poe helps his partners with their nightmares, and they return the favor.</p><p>-<br/>Please leave a comment if you like it! It's great motivation.</p><p>Written for swpolyamoryweek.</p>
            </blockquote>





	nightmares

It was really, really late when Poe came home. He crossed his darkened bedroom to his bunk, stripping partially and carelessly as he stumbled in from his mission, desperate for sleep. He ended up in his outer shirt and underwear as he collapsed into bed next to his petite girlfriend. 

Rey stirred and hummed a half-asleep greeting before going under again. She curled into his chest, wrapped tightly in a bit more than half of his sheets.

Poe sighed and wrapped his arms around her, salvaging what coverage he could from the sheets and supplanting the rest with her body heat. He was asleep almost instantly, exhausted from a long, hard mission.

He got a few hours before her crying woke him.

At first it didn’t register, but after listening to her for a few moments his brain figured out what was going on and he drug his eyes open with considerable difficulty. 

She was curled in toward his chest crying as quietly as possible into her hand, but he’d heard her. He gently turned her face up toward him and frowned in concern.

“Hey,” he whispered soothingly, rubbing her back. “What’s wrong?”

She sniffed and swiped her cheeks to clear them. “Nightmare. Sorry, I didn’t want to wake you.”

Poe gave a slight, crooked smile, a mix of fondness and sympathy. “Aw, Rey.” He lightly kissed her forehead. “Never be sorry for that.”

She fully met his eyes and grinned hesitantly at him. “Thanks.”

In reply, he kissed her again, a light peck on the lips this time, and sat up a bit, shifting his arm to cradle her so they could talk more comfortably and with less chance of him accidentally falling back to sleep. “Do you want to tell me about it?”

Rey’s expression was blank for a moment as she considered it, then screwed up in pain as she began to cry again. She buried her face in his side and shook her head, wetting his shirt with tears. 

He wrapped his arms tightly around her and smoothed her hair. “Shhh, it’s alright. I’m here. Whatever it was, you’re safe with me.”

She cried louder for a moment, but once she got it out, she settled down beside him and began to drift off again, still clinging to him. He resumed rubbing her back, remaining quiet but awake and trying to lull her back into a peaceful sleep. Eventually she began to snore, making him smile fondly.

He had to admire her, not only as beautiful and adorable and sweet, but for her depth, resilience, and strength. She’d been only nineteen when they’d met, and even now at 23 she was very young to be dealing with all the things she had to deal with. 

When Finn got back from his own mission, Poe’d probably gush to him yet again about how great their girlfriend was, as well as filling him in on the nightmare. They all had them, but her’s were becoming more frequent, and she was less willing to talk about them. That was definitely cause for concern. 

Looking at her though...he felt instinctively that it would all be okay. He believed wholeheartedly in her ability to survive anything the galaxy could throw at her.

Still smiling at her, Poe settled down beside her again and fell asleep.

-

Poe couldn’t sleep, and he didn’t know how Finn was managing. Pure exhaustion, maybe. He’d had a rough few days. 

The army cruiser was loud, rocking with gunfire as they fled a hostile area. Poe itched to jump in his fighter and take out their pursuing ships, but he’d been ordered not to. His commanding officers thought it was best to outrun the bastards and jump to lightspeed.

So he leaned against Finn’s bunk, where his boyfriend slept, snoring loudly on his side. Every few minutes Poe sighed and shifted on the hard floor, impatient and tired. He’d tried to go to sleep several times to no avail. The blaster fire was too loud, and the shaking of the ship brought memories of many, many other battles.

Maybe stormtroopers were trained or conditioned to sleep better in loud combat. 

Poe groaned as the ship rocked with another loud blast, probably three TIEs hitting target at once. Fortunately, he also heard the explosions of the enemy ships and the cruiser's jump to lightspeed. He slumped against the bunk and its occupant’s shoulder, grateful and tired. Now he had a chance to get some rest before it was time to go to work.

Or, he would have, had Finn not started awake right then. 

The younger man was wide-eyed and sweaty when Poe turned to look at him, and he was trying to catch his breath. He gripped Poe’s shoulder to anchor himself and took a deep breath. “Hey,” he almost whispered, staring at his boyfriend, probably trying to convince himself he was safe. 

Poe hugged his boyfriend’s shoulders tightly and smiled at him. “Hey, sweetheart. You’re fine. I’ve got you. And actually we just jumped to lightspeed, so we’re safe.”

Finn nodded, hugging Poe back and beginning to breathe more evenly. At the same time, the tears started. He cried, quietly at first, into Poe’s chest. Then he began to get louder.

Poe just held him tightly, whispering comforting things like ‘you’re okay’ and ‘I’m here’ and ‘I love you’ over and over. After the crying started to die down, Poe removed one arm from his boyfriend to retrieve their discarded jacket. Finn was shivering from the combination of his sweat and the over-air conditioning of the ship’s brig, plus he regarded the jacket as very comforting. 

Finn sat up in his bunk as, as expected, took the jacket gratefully, wrapping it around his shoulders. He sat crossed-legged and tugged on Poe’s arm to make him climb up next to him. 

Poe obeyed the non-verbal request and joined his boyfriend on the bed, pulling him back into a hug once he was settled. “What do you need, babe?”

Finn put his arms around Poe’s waist and leaned against him. “I can’t go back to sleep. I think it’s just going to start over again, and I can’t take that twice in one night.”

Poe kissed his temple. “Okay. I’ll stay up with you.”

Finn yawned. “You don’t have to do that. I know you’re tired.”

Poe re-positioned himself slightly so he could see Finn’s face better. “Yeah, but I don’t want you to accidentally fall asleep again and have another nightmare. I can manage, Finn. It’s okay.” He gave Finn his most reassuring smile. He knew he was good at making others trust him, and that he could prevent Finn from feeling guilty about him staying up as long as he didn’t show just how tired he actually was. He also knew he was completely capable of staying up all night and still operating at near peak, though it’d make him feel like hell. And it was worth it. 

Finn smiled back, convinced. “Okay. Thanks, love.” He kissed his boyfriend and rested against his arm and the wall behind them.

-

Rey had explained to him once that auras could be felt through the Force, both by people strong in it like her, and by people, well, like Poe. Most, you really wouldn’t notice, since you’re used to them. Some people formed bonds that let them know instinctively when someone close to them was nearby, but that usually required at least one of them to be a strong Force sensitive. Other times, you could feel the aura of a Force person with an extreme personality, either benevolent or evil and terrifying. Poe only really experienced this aspect of the Force. With Rey, he felt a bit happier, a bit lighter, a bit safer when she was around and safe herself. 

With Kylo Ren, he felt an oppressive darkness he couldn’t explain, a constant pulsing of unpleasant emotion that suffocated him. 

It was even present in his nightmares.

This one reoccurred every few months since his run in with the murderous bastard a few years back. The dream was simple: he lay in the torture chair while Ren wordlessly projected horrible pain into his mind and body with the Force. Fun. 

It wasn’t a long-lasting nightmare. Usually he woke up when the pain became too much, sometimes still screaming. This time when he woke up it was just with a sharp start and a bit of a pained groan. He didn’t even open his eyes, just lay there and thought miserably about how badly he wanted to never have that nightmare again.

He heard Rey and Finn whispering to each other on either side of him.

“He stopped,” Rey was saying. “Do you think he's fine now, or should we still wake him up?”

“I don't know,” Finn answered, voice hushed and worried. “Sometimes he does that. Just goes quiet.” 

Poe sighed and rubbed his hand over his face, startling both of them. “I can hear you.” 

“You're awake!” Rey exclaimed, a bit too loudly. Poe was suddenly aware of his headache. 

He opened his eyes and sat up. “Yeah, I'm awake.”

Finn leaned against him. “Is there anything we can do for you?”

Poe nodded. “Yeah. I need to move to a different room, and I need headache medicine.”

Finn gave him a sweet, comforting smile and rubbed his back. “We can do that. Come on, babe.” He climbed out of the bed and retrieved enough clothes for the three of them to walk around the base. 

Rey likewise jumped up readily, though Poe could see the fatigue hanging around her eyes. He was about to tell her to stay in bed, but her bright smile convinced him that she wanted to come with him, and that he wanted to let her. He smiled back and grabbed her hand, letting her pull him off of the bed. His feet curled on the cold floor and he kissed her hand. BB-8 woke and chirped at them as they dressed.

-

Once Poe got his headache medicine, the three of them went out to the landing bay and sat under his fighter, watching the sun rise and the sky lighten. Rey and Finn sat on either side of him, shoulder to shoulder. To distract from his anxiety about his nightmare, he asked about theirs. He’d found they all did best talking about them when they were calm.

“They’re awful,” Rey said. She still hadn’t told anyone what they were about. “But I’m learning to cope with them. I meditate, usually, and I’m alright in a little while.” She shudders, maybe from the cold breeze that just blew, maybe not. 

“They’re about the war,” Finn whispered, his voice hoarse. “In them, I’m still a stormtrooper. I’m still supposed to kill for them. And I still can’t.” 

“I don’t know what I did without you two,” Poe said, leaning on Rey’s shoulder with a tired sigh. 

Rey put her arm around Poe and hugged him. “I can help you learn to meditate, Finn.” 

Finn smiled and joined them in the hug. “I’d like that.”

“And Luke is teaching me something to help you, Poe. A calming technique that I can use for other people.”

With all the anxiety writhing in him, that definitely made Poe feel hopeful. “Good idea. That’d be really great.” The sun was fully risen now, and it struck him how beautiful the skies on D’Qar were. He closed his eyes, telling himself he’d just rest them for a moment. 

Within seconds, he was asleep again. Finn and Rey met eyes over his head and grinned at each other. 

Finn leaned over and kissed her. “Let him sleep now?”

The sunlight was warm against their skin. It felt like everything would be okay. “Yes. Maybe this time he’ll have a good dream.”


End file.
